U.S. President Donald Trump, last week, pardoned Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) after he pleaded guilty in 2023 for breaching the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Amid congratulatory messages pouring in for CZ, Senator Elizabeth Warren from the opposition Democratic Party has expressed criticism around the decision calling it a “kind of corruption”.
Warren is reportedly set to introduce a Senate resolution condemning President Trump’s decision. Adam Schiff, another Democratic Senator is also going to back Warren.
As per Warren, “CZ pleaded guilty to a criminal money laundering charge and was sentenced to prison. But then he financed President Trump’s stablecoin and lobbied for a pardon. If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it.”
An official confirmation on the reports from Warren remains awaited for now. Senator Schiff has also not posted anything about plans to challenge President Trump’s pardon decision as of now.
According to media reports, Warren believes that President Trump’s decision was tied to reeling-in profits into the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token. Following CZ’s pardon, the CoinMarketCap-backed token registered a price surge between seven and 15 percent bringing its value to $0.1433.
Over the weekend, the crypto mogul also accused Warren of spreading misinformation on social media. CZ has been responding to Warren’s pushback on his pardon by re-sharing Web3 members criticizing the Senator’s stance on the development.
Source: X/@cz_binance
If Senator Warren does go forward with a Senate resolution on the situation, it could stall in the Senate that is largely dominated by members of the Republican Party.
In a press conference following CZ’s pardon decision, President Trump said what CZ did was “not even crime” and that he was “persecuted by the Biden administration.”
After CZ pleaded guilty in 2023 for violating the BSA Act, Binance had shelled out $4.3 billion as a settlement fine. CZ also paid a penalty of $50 million and stepped down from his role as Binance’s CEO. In 2024, CZ served a four-month prison sentence and petitioned President Trump for a pardon in May this year.